Russian soldier kills Ukrainian naval officer in Crimea

A Russian soldier has shot dead a Ukrainian naval officer in eastern Crimea, Ukraine’s defence ministry said on Monday, the second fatality reported since Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula last month.

The defence ministry spokesman said the soldier had been preparing his belongings to leave for the Ukrainian region of Mykolaev on Wednesday when an argument broke out with Russian servicemen.

The officer, Stanislav Karachevsky, who was married and had two children, was killed with an AK-74 on the fifth floor of the dormitory where he lived, he said.

A defence ministry statement said another Ukrainian soldier had been beaten by Russian servicemen and detained, but gave few details.

Russia formally annexed Crimea on March 21, less than a week after the region voted overwhelmingly to become part of the Russian Federation in a referendum that the West sees as illegal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised the military’s largely bloodless takeover of Crimea, but the death may boost the already high tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

The first reported death occurred in Simferopol when an unknown gunman shot and killed a Ukrainian serviceman while he was manning a tower overlooking a vehicle pool at the base.

Kiev has blamed Russia for stoking tensions in mostly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian protesters have seized state security offices in Donetsk and Luhansk, including facilities where weapons are stored.